Grupa Azoty S.A. is launching investments in the Plastics and Fertilizers segments. The flagship projects - Polyamide 6 Plant and Granulation Plant II - with a total estimated cost of EUR 110m, are to be placed in service in 2016 and will give jobs to 110 people. The Company has already secured all corporate approvals required to commence the investment process.

"We are seeking to build a more flexible product portfolio to expand our target markets and add value to our business segments. We want to develop our offering with high-margin products," said Witold Szczypiński, Vice-President of the Management Board, Director General. "In the case of plastics, we intend to focus more on downstream products by increasing the production volumes of higher value-added plastics. This also means a shift in plastics export markets - from Asia to Europe. In the Fertilizers segment, which is our key business area, we intend to enhance the quality and increase the volume of CAN production to meet the demand of the Polish agricultural industry," added Mr Szczypiński.

The Polyamide 6 Plant, with an annual production capacity of 80,000 tonnes and total cost of up to PLN 320m, will be financed with own funds and a credit facility. The new facility will be erected directly next to the existing PA6 plant in the Special Economic Zone, in a subzone which is currently being extended, and will cover an area of 3.5ha. The decision to construct the facility followed from the consolidation of caprolactam production capacities at Grupa Azoty, and was made in the context of an abrupt change seen recently on the global caprolactam market. In Poland, due to the increasing importance of the automotive sector and other industries using structural fibres, the demand for plastics is growing. Also, there are more and more small and medium-sized private companies, often family businesses, which use polyamides and composites produced locally. Grupa Azoty has an opportunity to become a key regional centre supplying these semiproducts.

The second project underway involves the construction of Granulation Plant II, which according to the Company's strategy will help optimise fertilizer offering and add further value to ammonium sulfate production. Its cost is estimated at PLN 141m and, similarly to the Polyamide 6 Plant, it will be financed with own funds and bank borrowings. The project is an element of Grupa Azoty's activities designed to maintain its competitive position on the CAN market, started in 2006-2009 with the construction of the first Granulation Plant.